


fix it in post

by whimsyappletea



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Age Difference, Drama, Drama & Romance, Established Relationship, F/M, Filming, Implied Relationships, Older Woman/Younger Man, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 19:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6871171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsyappletea/pseuds/whimsyappletea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“He loves you, so really, what do you have to worry about?”</p>
<p>—the real action happens behind the scenes. Lenrin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fix it in post

**Author's Note:**

> (mm sorry about the late uploads, the weekend got a little busy --)
> 
> so! this storys a little different since it was the first time i tried my hand at an established fic (aka a fic where the characters are already dating).
> 
> its based off this manga i read (one chapter lol) – _mikansei lovers_ \- which inspired the age gap of four years between len and rin. YE YOU HEARD RIGHT. THIS AINT JUST AN ESTABLISHED FIC BUT ALSO AN AGE GAP FIC HOLLER
> 
> fun fact: originally i planned on _ai no scenario_ for the lyrics (its a really great song i love it so much) but then another song butted in as you can tell laughs
> 
> written as a birthday story for **kaida** last year, which also explains all the filming references pfpfpfft i guarantee this is exactly how painful single-cam productions are honestly we had to suffer through so much :'D
> 
> established!age gap!lenrin and surprise gumi pairing at the end (dont ask it just happened welp)~

.  
.  
.

Miku’s done a great job for their recce at the bakery near campus, so at least that’s _one_ down, Rin notes, striking it out with her pencil. There’s still a long way to go before they can start filming, though.

She flips through the rest of her handwritten notes, juxtaposing the schedules of their talents for any overlapping free time slots, but—nope, none at all. What possessed her to take an art degree in cinema when it’s obvious she sucks at it, goddammit, _she’s a fucking idiot_.

After some consideration, Rin scratches out the first talent’s name—he works odd hours and probably isn’t the best free-lance actor available, anyway—and quickly jots down a few other possible candidates to replace him. She’ll have to make a lot of phone calls and arrangements, but if she plays her cards right, maybe—

“ _Wow._ You look like a hot mess.”

Concentration shattered, the blonde slowly turns her head in the direction of the door, boring holes into the high-school boy leaning against it with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Well, you’re _my_ hot mess,” he adds casually, “but still.”

The pencil breaks into two under her vice-grip.

Rin rises to her feet, cracks her knuckles. Says, far too calmly to be anything good:

“Five seconds, Len.”

He drops his school bag and bolts out of her bedroom, cackling maniacally with her hot on his heels.

.

**fix it in post**

_ive got fire for a heart,  
im not scared of the dark—  
youve never seen it look so easy._

.

“Did you _have_ to hit me so hard?” Len whines, pouting as he nurses his red left cheek, where the faint imprint of her hand can be seen. “I was just kidding, jeez...”

“I was _working_ ,” she grouches, arms folded across her chest. It’s a little difficult to tell who’s older when both are sulking like petty children on her living room floor. “You _know_ I don’t like being interrupted when I’m working.”

“You were the one who asked me to come over, genius,” he quips dryly.

Rin bristles, digging her palms into the ground to push herself up. “I wasn’t expecting you so fast! Don’t you usually like to take your own sweet time?” She meanders towards the kitchen, asking over her shoulder, “The usual?”

“Yeah!” he calls back, lying flat on the ground with a sigh. Can she blame him for wanting to come over faster, grouses the boy internally. It’s been so long since he’d last seen her, with Rin being so busy with assignments and all, so _excuse him_ for being overly eager to visit his girlfri—

He jolts when an icy can of grape soda touches his sore cheek. “Here you go, you big idiot,” she murmurs without any real bite, and he sits up to accept it with a bright beam of appreciation.

With practiced ease, Len cracks open the tab, taking a few huge gulps of the cool, fizzy drink and letting out a contented sigh. “So, what’s gotten your head in a spin?”

“ _Ugh_ , don’t even.” Rin shakes her head with such a woeful expression that he has to hide a chortle to stay alive. “I’m re-evaluating my own life decisions and wondering if turning into a stress-free puppy would be better than this level of hell.”

“You would make a very cute puppy,” he agrees. “I’d love you all the same.”

She shoves him, though he barely moves an inch. He waggles his eyebrows in triumph at his small victory, while the girl can only settle for a huff of fond exasperation instead. “Enough about me, what have _you_ been up to lately?”

“Eh, same old, same old—oh! I have something to show you!” Len sweeps his gaze around the area, blinking in realization. “Huh, my bag’s not here.”

“You left it in my room, I guess?” She’s already on the move as she speaks. “Be back in a flash!”

.

Len has it so easy now, Rin muses wistfully. She’d never thought there will come a day where she misses _high school_ of all things; the thought is laughable in itself.

She spots the bag, which had been left abandoned when he was escaping her wrath earlier, and bends down to pick it up—only for a mini avalanche of letters to spill out across the floor.

“What,” Rin says with belying calmness, “the hell is this.”

There are so many of them in different shapes and sizes, all unopened as far as she can tell. Rin can only imagine how many more confessions he might’ve received on his phone in this day and age of social media and whatnot.

It’s an odd feeling to realize just how popular her boyfriend of nearly a year really is—especially when she’s known him since he was a troublemaker in elementary school, picking fights with other kids to make himself look stronger. She’d been in middle school at the time, and upon seeing him bullying another child one day, she’d dealt with the boy in impulsive Rin fashion.

(Which basically meant he was crying uncle by the end of her righteous yelling and—more terrifyingly— _her god-awful, infamously painful noogie_.)

He’d also declared his love for her that very same day, and every day from then onwards. Something about getting struck by lightning from the moment he’d first met her.

(Yeah, she still doesn’t get it, even up till now. Probably has something to do with her fiery attitude.)

She’d always assumed his little crush on her would fade away with time, but his advances had only grown smoother and more direct over the years—

And eventually his persistency had paid off, so they’ve been dating since the start of his third year of middle school. It makes her feel like a cougar sometimes, but Len’s never worried about the ‘little things’ like age gaps.

Logically speaking, she shouldn’t worry about it either, Rin sighs, stuffing the letters back into his school bag the best she can and carrying it in her arms. But she does.

She does.

.

“Well, you sure took a while,” Len observes upon her return, his eyes half-lidded in a doze. He’s already long since finished his drink and tossed it into the trash can in the kitchen.

“Yeah, got a little side-tracked. Here, catch!”

Before he can react, the bag nails him in the stomach, landing on his lap and knocking the wind out of him. “ _Rude_ ,” he wheezes, and she only laughs at his mock-hurt look before taking a seat next to him.

Len digs through his bag, a bubble of excitement rising as he pictures her reaction to what he has to show her. Hopefully she’ll be just as excited as he is!

“ _Ta-da_ , I placed first in the prefectural tournament!” he cheers, holding up the karate certificate for Rin to see and bouncing in place on the sofa.

Her eyes round in surprise. “That’s _awesome_ ,” she says, a pretty smile lighting up her features and warming his heart. God help him, just seeing her glow with happiness is enough to melt him to a puddle of mush. “After this you’re headed for regionals, right?”

“ _Hell yeah_ , and after that would be the nationals, so it won’t be long before I’ve conquered the whole junior high circuit,” he concludes, a cocky, suggestive smirk toying at his lips. “Now, aren’t you going to give me a reward?”

She tenses when he leans in, his face bare inches from hers. “Wh-what are you talking about, idiot,” the girl stammers, her hands fidgeting cutely in her lap as colour spills over her cheekbones. “I never promised you anyth—”

Len presses a kiss to the tip of nose, earning a small squeak of surprise.

He pulls back with a low chuckle of amusement, dodging her blows reflexively before allowing her to deliver one punch to his head for his cheekiness.

.

Len’s a dazzling person to watch.

Rin doesn’t know how to explain it even though she’s tried several times, only ending up receiving confused looks from Miku and Luka.

They’ve retreated to her room once more, him working on his math homework and her scratching her head over production kinks, but she ends up distracted, observing her boyfriend discreetly instead. Puberty’s really done a number on Len, leaving him lean, tall, broad-shouldered—and _definitely_ not the pipsqueak kid declaring his love for her at the top of his lungs anymore.

Not to mention his inherent kindness, athleticism and charming, upbeat attitude—they’re all qualities that make him highly desirable to any girl his age.

Surely, she thinks with some degree of anxiety, surely he deserves better than a silly university student old enough to be his sister and isn’t sure what she’s doing half the time.

“’Talent schedules’...? Are these giving you a hard time, Rin?”

Rin blinks, feeling warm breath fan against her neck. She hadn’t noticed that Len had moved from his spot to peer over her shoulder, but she’s so used to him popping up out of nowhere that it doesn’t even startle her. “Uh, sort of? They’re all clashing and we don’t exactly have enough resources to look into other free-lance actors... I mean, I do have some names, but it’s not—”

“Would high school actors be okay?”

“—particularly promising, so I guess I’ll just—wait, what.”

.

Len admits he’s not the most observant person—lots of people have called him dense on many, many occasions—but when it comes to his girlfriend, he’s always on high alert.

She’s been a little strange since she returned with his school bag, but the thing about Rin is that the more you ask, the more she closes off, so he’s always treading on thin ice—at least until her dormant volcano of bottled-up emotions decides to erupt in the form of a meltdown.

(He tries to avoid that disaster as much as he can, mostly because seeing her upset often makes his insides feel like they’ve been twisted by sub-zero cold hands.)

“I know a bunch of drama club people,” he says cheerfully, bumping his forehead against her shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help you out if your friends don’t mind younger actors.”

“ _Mind?_ I’ll have to personally hang their asses out to dry in _China_ if they do, we don’t have _time_ to mind,” Rin mutters darkly as she picks up her phone, prompting a bout of snickering from him. “Oh, and Len?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks.”

He lifts his head momentarily to brush his lips against her temple, the curve of his smile soft with contentment. “Mm. Glad to help.”

.

“So, _you’re_ the girlfriend we’ve heard about so much in school,” the blue-haired boy says, looking her up and down with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “You’re hella cuter in-person.”

As Rin flushes in embarrassment, confused as to how she should respond to that comment, Len’s arm around her waist tightens subtly. “Quit it, Kaito, before I make you.” (It’s a fair warning, considering how Len knows bloody _karate_.)

“Aye, aye, touchy, aren’t you.” Kaito grins, oddly reminding Rin of her boyfriend’s troublemaking days. “I don’t blame you— _ow._ ”

A green-haired girl withdraws her rather bony elbow from where it’d dug at his ribs, tearing her eyes away from her compact mirror to give him a flat look. “Stop playing the jerk, we’re not doing our _‘Pop Goes The Bandit’_ play right now.”

Like a switch that’s been flipped, Kaito straightens and assumes a meeker, less predatory posture, offering everyone a sheepish smile. “Ah, so sorry about that...”

“Uh, right.” Drama club people, indeed, Rin thinks. Len’s still furrowing his eyebrows at the other boy with disapproval, most likely about to go off on a tangent about weird method-acting or something like that, so she gently shakes off his arm to check on Miku and Luka, who are setting up the camera and the sound equipment respectively.

It doesn’t take long for them to wrap up production for that day, since the two talents only appear for a couple of short scenes, and soon enough they’re all taking a break for lunch. Rin’s rolling up the wire for the boom mic to prevent any of the rest from tripping over it when she notices Kaito taking languid sips of his water bottle nearby.

Um.

She inches her way past the blue-haired boy, hoping to go unnoticed—but then those hopes are dashed and her body goes stiff when he turns to address her with a pleasant, “Good work today.”

“Ah, you too,” Rin mumbles, giving him a quick smile as she props the boom mic against the wall, praying it won’t fall over. She has nothing against him, really, it’s just—regardless of whether he’d been acting or not earlier, regardless of the fact that she’s at least four years his senior, Kaito still makes her feel unsure of herself.

And Rin’s never been very sure of herself as it is, underneath all her bravado.

“It’s been really fun,” Kaito says, his voice deceptively casual. It’s like waiting for a punchline that doesn’t arrive until it’s already hit you right in the face. “You know, I was surprised when Gumi agreed to help... especially after what happened.”

“Gumi?” _Happened?_

He shrugs. “Ye-ep. She confessed to Len a while back, but he rejected. Dunno if there are any lingering feelings, though.”

Rin instantly tries to think back to any interactions Len had with the green-haired girl. None so far have stood out in particular, since he’d been very curious about the many functions of the camera _(“What’s an ND filter?” “What does white balance do?” “How tall would the tripod be if you extend it all the way?”)_ —to the point where Miku had deadpanned that she’d fling him out of the bakery if he continued to disrupt her filming with so many questions.

“Well,” the older girl begins, before faltering, her mind drawing up a blank. How’s she supposed to respond to something like that? “Um. Well, I mean, Len... _is_ pretty popular.”

“Yes, he is,” Kaito agrees. “Very much so.” When her only reply is to look down at her fidgeting hands, he continues, “But he loves you. _Also_ very much so.”

An odd, stilted pause.

“He loves you,” he repeats, raising his eyebrows and smiling wryly at her deer-in-the-headlights expression. “So really, what do you have to worry about?”

.

“Rin?” Len peers in from where he stands by the doorframe, sipping from a mug of warm milk. (His girlfriend’s cosy little apartment is like his second home, honestly.)

It’s been two weeks since he’d last visited her and it looks like a tornado had completely thrashed the place, with papers filled with storyboard drawings and balled-up failed sketches scattered in a flurry across her once-clean bedroom.

As if reading his thoughts, she speaks without looking up: “Hey, Len. Sorry about the mess, uh—just sit anywhere that looks comfortable.” The blonde’s writing notes of all the shots they’ve already filmed so far; he’d heard from editor Luka that it helps tremendously in post-production.

Still, Rin looks like she can really, _really_ use a break.

Len strolls over to where she’s sitting cross-legged in her usual working spot in front of her low wooden desk, and with all the subtleties of an incoming elephant, he proceeds to sit down.

_Right_ on the girl’s lap.

She squawks, dropping her pencil and gasping under the sudden added weight. “WHAT ARE YOU _DOING_ ,” demands Rin, wiggling aimlessly in an attempt to get rid of him but to no avail.

“Sitting, of course,” he replies with as much innocence as he can muster without ruining his own poker-face.

“ON _ME_ , OF ALL PLACES?”

The boy rolls the mug in his hands, pleased by the warmth seeping into his skin and how predictably his girlfriend is responding to this situation. “Well, you _did_ to say sit anywhere that looks comfortable.”

Just as he expects, she splutters. “T-THAT—I DIDN’T MEAN _ANYWHERE_ -ANYWHERE! GET OFF, IDIOT!”

He turns his head slightly, making brief eye contact with Rin, whose cheeks are red from equal parts exertion and discomfiture and looking every bit as cute as he’s known her to be—

And then he smiles, turning back to sip from his mug coolly.

Rin throws her hands up with a groan that’s more of protest than defeat. “ARE YOU FUCKING _SERIOUS_ RIGHT NOW.”

“I’m always serious,” Len jests, sliding off her lap partially to relief her from his weight but keeping his legs tangled with hers to lock her in place. “Now, what did Kaito say to you during lunch.”

She stares at him with wide, doe-like eyes, and he almost calls it quits right there and then for putting her on the spot like that, but—he wants to know. Kaito’s been known to be rather provocative on occasion, sometimes even _abrasive_ , and seeing how quietly smug he’d looked while Rin appeared... contemplative at best had only worried Len.

(The fact that her answer might also determine the state of Kaito’s pretty-boy face is irrelevant.)

“He didn’t really _say_ anything,” Rin says after a beat, assuming a defensive expression. “It was just about Gumi. And her confession. And—and that’s it.”

Len stares, wondering if this is payback for whatever jealousy he’s invoked in Kaito previously. “Oh.” Cautiously, he ventures, “I rejected her on the spot, though.”

“I _know_.” She frowns up at him, hesitance clouding her normally clear, twinkling eyes. “But she’s—she’s like me, isn’t she? Gumi’s a fiery person too, as far as I can tell. I’m sure not many people can put Kaito back in his place so easily. And that’s—the fieriness, _that’s_ what attracted you to me in the first place, right?

“You’re smart, sporty, considerate—and just basically all-round perfect boyfriend material, so I don’t get why you’re stuck with... well, _me_.”

.

Voicing out her thoughts is a lot more difficult than it looks, Rin thinks, ducking her head to avoid his gaze. Kaito had asked what she had to worry about—and she couldn’t reply, despite all the answers caught in her throat.

_(My age. My constant insecurities. That I’m not as bold or impassioned or wonderful as he makes me out to be._

_That I’m holding Len back.)_

She hears the sound of the porcelain mug being placed on the table, before warm, gentle fingers lift her chin so that her face can be seen properly.

“You silly girl.”

Rin jerks in indignation, a hot retort of _‘is that really all you have to say about this’_ ready on the tip of her tongue—until she notices his soft expression.

“I guess I didn’t really explain what was it about you that made me feel like I got struck by lightning,” Len muses. “But it wasn’t your ‘fieriness’ or whatever—it was that you were strong.”

“That’s not—!”

“True? But it is. You have a strong moral compass and a bite to back up your bark—or rather your _noogie_. Those are still painful as hell, by the way.” He winces at the memory. “And then I got to know you more each day. I found out that you weren’t as gung-ho as I thought you were, that you were thoughtful and easily flustered and had days where anxiety swallowed you whole.

“And most of all, you made me realize that being strong is even _less_ of beating people up, and more of being able to show how _vulnerable_ you can be.”

Rin shakes her head desperately, no, no, that’s still not true, even after all that he can still look up to her and admire her as a mere role model, he doesn’t _have_ to force himself to like her if he has a whole selection of girls to pick from to be his girlfriend—

“ _Force_ myself?” Len interrupts, raising his eyebrows. He releases her chin to flick the girl’s forehead, and she wrinkles her nose. “Rin, I worked my _butt_ off on my studies to _impress you_. I joined karate ‘coz _you_ commented on my strength and suggested it. And I sure as hell would’ve been, like, a _delinquent_ or something if you weren’t there to knock some sense into me all those years ago.”

She’s already gaping by this point, but the boy continues to deliver the final blow in kind Len fashion:

“I’m always trying to be good boyfriend material—and not just for anyone, but _you_.”

For a moment it’s silent, and Rin can only cover her aflame face with her hands, feeling lighter than she has for a long time. “Idiot,” she grumbles.

“Mm-hm.” She can _hear_ the smile in his voice, dammit.

“You _idiot_.”

“Yes, yes.” He pulls her into his lap this time, and she wraps her arms around his neck before resting her head against the crook of his shoulder.

“Idiot, idiot, _idiotttt_. You hear me? You big, fat—”

For now, any concerns about Len’s popularity or loyalty to her have, at least, been put at ease.

After all, with the boy’s lips locked against hers, Rin feels like they’re strong enough to conquer the world, one worry at a time—

Together.

.

_all these lights, they cant blind me—  
with your love, nobody can drag me down._

.

**omake:**  


“Wait,” Miku says over a mouthful of her ham and leek sandwich. Briefly she wonders what’s taking Rin so long with the equipment, but dismisses the thought for their more interesting topic at hand. “So, you two are _dating_?”

Gumi shrugs, munching on her potato chip with ease. “Yeah.”

Luka stares, mystified, recalling many instances throughout their filming process where Gumi had jabbed the blue-haired boy in—ahem, _various areas_ with her skinny yet incredibly sharp elbows. “How do you keep him in line all the time without killing him?”

“Len helps sometimes.”

All heads whip to the blond, who laughs absently. (His eyes keep flickering elsewhere, as if on the lookout for someone, but no one really notices.) “Jeez, Gumi, you call that _helping_? Isn’t it more like trickery instead?”

Miku leans forward, intrigued. Man, the things high school kids do nowadays—it really makes her feel a little old, now. “What do you do?”

Len sits back in his chair, trading a glance with the green-haired girl and sniggering quietly. “You’d be surprised how overly-concerned he is about Gumi’s past crush on me—or rather _supposed_ crush, anyway.”

“For the record,” Gumi drawls, “it was a dare. Dunno why he keeps fussing over lingering feelings or whatever, but it makes for _great_ teasing material to keep him in check.”

.  
**owari.**  
.  
.  
.

**Author's Note:**

>  **disclaimer:** i do not own Vocaloid, or One Direction’s _Drag Me Down_.


End file.
